zaterdag 14 mei 2011

PA kan 'derde intifada' niet tegenhouden - na jaren van opruiing

Abbas Zaki says the Palestinians, inspired by Middle East unrest, may launch new intifada on 'Nakba Day' if they have lost hope in peace talks.

The Palestinian leadership won't be able to contain the street protests planned for this weekend marking the 63rd anniversary of the creation of Israel, said a senior member of Central Committee of the Fatah movement.

Abbas Zaki, whose tasks include monitoring the Arab Spring revolts, told The Media Line that Palestinians have been encouraged by how Arabs across the Middle East have toppled two leaders and threaten others with mass protests. With no peace talks with Israel on the horizon, Zaki warned, the Palestinian leadership will be hard pressed to contain the rage of demonstrators.

"The Palestinian leadership has faced a dead end and has been unable to advance the many Palestinian issues even a bit. This leadership won't be able to quiet the street, which has witnessed the success and achievements of the Egyptians and Tunisians. The Palestinian people will react according to its level of hope in a peaceful solution," Zaki said.

Last week Palestinian Authority TV rebroadcast a clip from an Arab world TV campaign which among others presents terrorist Dalal Mughrabi as a role model to women.

As reported by PMW, a TV clip presenting several "model women" was broadcast on more than 50 Arab TV stations in November and December 2010, including Palestinian Authority TV, as part of a TV campaign to "support women's issues" in the Arab world.

One of the women promoted in the clip as role models for Arab women today is Dalal Mughrabi, famous for her terrorist attack that killed dozens of Israelis, and another, Al Khansa, who is famous for celebrating the Martyrdom deaths of her children.

The clip is part of the "White Hands Campaign - The largest media campaign to support women's issues," which is organized by "the Arab Producers Union for TV (APUTV)," according to the campaign's English website.

When PMW first reported on this campaign, the website listed the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) as part of the campaign's organizers and carried the organization's logo. Following PMW's exposure of the UN's stated involvement in the campaign, UNFPA issued a press release "disavowing" its involvement in the campaign. The campaign has since then removed the UNFPA logo from its website.

Entitled The Model Woman, the clip honors different Arab women of the past, assigning to them various virtues and accomplishments. Dalal Mughrabi, who in 1978 led the most lethal terror attack against Israel, in which 37 civilians were killed, is venerated in the clip as a role model for "Martyrdom" and "victory over enmity". Al Khansa, a 7th century Arab poet, who celebrated her four sons' Martyrdom deaths in battle is praised as an example of "resolve" and "Martyrdom and giving".

"The IDF estimates that events on the ground could lead to violence, even if no side is interested in such a scenario," the statement said.

Col. Avi Gil, commander of the Ephraim Brigade, instructed his troops to be on high alert and increase their vigilance. "We are preparing for the possibility of a Third Intifada or any other extreme scenario on 'Nakba Day'," he told Army Radio. "We are conducting situational assessments and preparing."

Israeli security sources told The Media Line that the recent reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas could lead to outlawed Hamas members participating in Palestinian security forces. This could lead to a rupture in the cooperation currently underway between the IDF and the Palestinians in the West Bank.

Zaki, who played a key role in the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas, insisted that the interim Palestinian government to be formed would not jeopardize agreements already reached with Israel.

"The new government will be totally committed to previous agreements signed with Israel. It is the government of Mahmoud Abbas who has expressed more than once his commitment to the [Israeli] partner, if he still exists," Zaki said.

"The Palestinian people should unite to face Israeli occupation which is the most threatening to Palestinians, and put aside marginal quarrels," he said.